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FOOD SCIENCE RESEARCH JOURNAL;
Volume 2 Issue 2
(October, 2011) Page : 173-178
Effect of feeding quality protein maize (QPM) on growth of young children
(1-3 years)
NEETA CHOPRA, AMITA BHARGAWA AND ANNAMMA KUMAR
ABSTRACTGood quality proteins in the diets is one of the most important requirements for proper growth of young children. Maize is the main
source of nutrition for millions of people in the developing countries. The conventional variety of maize is deficient in lysine and
tryptophan. The cereal is also imbalanced in the leucine -isoleucine ratio. The genetically modified crop called Quality Protein
Maize (QPM) is known to be nutritionally much superior. This study was undertaken to find out the effect of feeding QPM on growth
of 1-3 year old children. Eighty children from a low socio-economic community in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India were grouped into
four, each group comprising 20 children. General profile, and anthropometric measurements were recorded, following which each
group was fed a different diet viz., QPM diet, conventional(normal) maize diet, milk diet and control (home ) diet for a period of 180
days. All four were isoprotein and isocaloric diets. At intervals of fortnight, the anthropometric measurements were taken until the
completion of feeding experiment. The QPM fed group performed best in all measurements viz., weight, height, head circumference,
chest circumference and arm circumference. Substitution of conventional maize with QPM is therefore recommended for combating
protein malnutrition and poor growth, particularly among young children of low socio-economic groups subsisting on maize.
INTRODUCTION
Protein energy malnutrition is an important nutritional
problem in India. Animal protein is expensive. The main
source of energy is cereal crops and by far is also the
major source of proteins. Unfortunately, these have poor
nutritional value for humans with respect to amount of
amino acids that are required for human growth. Out of
22 amino acids commonly occurring in food proteins, eight
are essential for human growth and these have to be
provided by dietary proteins.
Cereal proteins contain on an average about 2 per
cent lysine, which is less than half of the concentration
recommended for human nutrition by the FAO (1985) .One
such crop is maize with its high content of carbohydrate,
along with traces of lipids, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Maize serves as the main source of nutrition for the millions
of people in developing countries, accounting
approximately 15 to 56 per cent of the total daily calorie
intake (Prasanna et al., 2001). From the human nutrition
point lysine is the most important limiting amino acid in the
maize endosperm protein, followed by tryptophan
HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Chopra, Neeta, Bhargawa, Amita and Kumar, Annamma (2011). Effect of feeding quality protein maize (QPM) on growth of
young children (1-3 years), Food Sci. Res. J., 2 (2) : 173-178.
Key Words : Maize, Protein, QPM, Feeding, Growth, Children
(Bressani et al., 1975).The deficiency of lysine and
tryptophan and excess of leucine, i.e. imbalanced leucine
isoleucine ratio causes pellagra which occurs in endemic
form among population groups subsisting on maize.
The need to genetically ameliorate the poor nutritional
value of cereal grain maize has been recognized for a
long time. In 1960 a variety of maize called opaque-2
was discovered to have twice the normal levels of lysine
equivalent to that of skimmed milk, but in field trials the
new grain proved to have disappointed yield and storage
qualities. This maize was revised in the mid nineties and
Quality Protein Maize (QPM) was developed via
conventional breeding methods. This new variety has high
protein content, high yields and attractive storage qualities
(McPherson, 2000).
The maize kernel includes pericarp (6%), endosperm
rich in starch (82%) and germ (12%).Bulk of the protein
in a mature maize kernel is in the endosperm and germ,
but the germ protein is superior in both lysine and
tryptophan. Graham et al.(1989) stated that to anyone
familiar with the nutritional problems of weaned infants
and small children in the developing countries ,and with
Received : July, 2011; Revised: August, 2011; Accepted : September, 2011
RESEARCH ARTICLE
HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Food Sci. Res. J.; Vol. 2 (2); (Oct., 2011) 174
the fact that millions of them depend on maize for most of
their dietary energy, nitrogen and essential amino acids,
the potential advantages of quality protein maize are
enormous.Nutritionally superior QPM strain was
developed after a long research of 30 years by maize
breeders of “Simmyte”, now called CIMMYT.The present
investigation was undertaken to find out the role of QPM
in combating protein malnutrition in children, with the
specific objectives:
To find out the energy and protein content in selected
recipes of QPM. (2) To find out the effect of feeding the
QPM recipes -on growth of young children (1-3 yrs) .
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The host institution for this research was Institute of
Home Economics, Agra. The work was done during the
years 2008-10.This research comprised six main
components: (1) preparation of four recipes each from
QPM and conventional maize; (2) protein and energy
estimation of the 8 recipes; (3) general profile survey of
young children (1-3yrs); (4) experimental feeding of the
children; (5) diet survey at two month intervals and (6)
anthropometric survey fortnightly.
Preparation of recipes (products):
The required quantities of QPM and conventional
maize(NM)were obtained from IARI, Pusa, New Delhi.
Skimmed milk powder was purchased from Ganapati
Trading Co., Ghaziabad, U.P. The QPM and conventional
maize were processed to obtain maize flour and maize
daliya (broken maize). Two products viz., laddoo and
parata were prepared from flour and two products viz.,
sweet daliya and daliya pulao from the broken maize. Flow
chart shows the procedure used for preparing the products.
Protein and energy estimation of products:
The eight recipes, four of flour and four of broken
maize, were analyzed for their protein and energy
composition by standard methods ie. Kjeldahl method and
Bomb Calorimeter, respectively (AOAC, 1965; ISI,
1978).This was done at the Gumming Research
Laboratory, Pusa and at Arbro Testing Laboratory, New
Delhi.
General profile survey of subjects:
Data on general information including age, sex,
family particulars etc. of the subjects were collected by
interviewing the mothers prior to the implementation of
feeding experiments.
Experimental feeding:
For this aspect of the study, 80 children of 1-3 years
age were selected randomly from two residential colonies
of Ghaziabad, U.P. These colonies were authorized by
the Municipality and the residents were of the low socio-
economic category. A clinical examination of the children
was conducted by a medical doctor, following which the
children were grouped into three experimental and one
control group, each consisting of 20 children. On the
recommendation of the doctor the subjects were given a
prescribed dose of albendazol for worm treatment, after
which the feeding experiment started. The three
experimental groups were named as: (1) QPM, (2) Normal
maize (NM), and (3) Skimmed milk group, .based on the
diets they were provided. The fourth group which was
not given any diet by the investigators but continued on
home diets formed the control group. Each subject in the
experimental groups was served a weighed quantity of
cycle menu of sweet daliya, daliya pulao, laddoo and
paratha in addition to the home diets for a period of 180
days. Diets of all the experimental groups had iso-protein
and iso-caloric levels. The quantity left over in each
subject’s plate was weighed and deducted from the
quantity served and thus the actual consumption was
computed,
Diet survey:
In order to find out the protein and energy consumed
by the subjects from their home diets ,a dietary survey
was carried out by the 24-hour recall method as per
Sweet Daliya
Daliya
↓
Add oil and roast
↓
Add water
↓
Steam
↓
Add sugar
↓
Stir
↓
Sweet Daliya is ready
Laddoo
Maize flour
↓
Add ghee and stir
↓
Roast till brown
↓
Remove from fire
↓
Cool and mix boora
↓
Bind into round shape, & cool
↓
Laddoo is ready
Fig. a: Flow chart showing preparation of recipes/products
NEETA CHOPRA, AMITA BHARGAWA AND ANNAMMA KUMAR
Daliya Pullao
Daliya
↓
Chop cauliflower and potato
↓
Pour vegetable oil in a pan
↓
Add roasted daliya to oil
↓
Add salt, vegetable and garam masala
↓
Cook under pressure (2 whistles)
↓
Cool slightly, daliya pullao is ready
Paratha
Maize flour
↓
Add boiled vegetables, spices and salt
↓
Make dough of the mixture
↓
Make small balls of dough
↓
Roll out the balls
↓
Shallow fry on both sides into parathas using veg. oil
↓
Serve hot
175HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Food Sci. Res. J.; Vol. 2 (2); (Oct., 2011)
standard procedure (Swminathan,2002).This was done for
three consecutive days initially and thereafter at two
months intervals .The respondents for this survey were
the subject’s mothers. The mothers were told to serve the
prescribed quantity of home food to ensure isoprotein
and isocaloric intake of all four groups.Protein and energy
values were computed using the food composition tables
of Gopalan et al. (2000). Average daily consumption from
home diets was then computed and to this was added the
average protein and energy values consumed per day from
the experimental diets, in order to find out the average
total daily consumption of each group of experimental diet
subjects .The home diet average formed the consumption
of control group.
Anthropometric measurements:
Height, weight, head circumference, chest
circumference and arm circumference of the subjects
were measured by the standard methods of Jeliffe (1962).
This was done prior to the feeding and thereafter at
intervals of fortnight till the completion of feeding
experiment.
OBSERVATIONS AND ASSESSMENT
The results obtained from the present investigation
as well as well as relevant discussion have been presented
under following heads :
Protein and energy content of food products
(Recipes):
The four recipes viz., sweet daliya, daliya pulao,
laddoo and paratha prepared from conventional maize and
QPM had the energy (kcal) and protein contents as shown
in Table 1. It can be noticed that QPM based recipes, in
general, had much higher protein value than those based
on conventional maize; the ranges being 2.73 g to 6.59 g
and 1.95 g to 4.56 g, respectively per 100g. However
the QPM products/recipes were comparable to the
conventional maize recipes with respect to their energy
value .The kcal derived from 100g of the products ranged
Table 1: Protein and energy contents of conventional maize
and QPM recipes Variety Name of
recipe
Energy
Kcal/100g
Protein
(gm/100g)
Conventional
maize
Sweet ‘Dalia’ 402 (987) 4.56 (11.17)
‘Dalia’ Pulav 452 (700) 2.82 (4.37)
Laddoo 510 (622) 1.95 (2.37)
Paratha 426 (791) 2.43 (4.51)
QPM Sweet ‘Dalia’ 376 (959) 6.59 (16.81)
‘Dalia’ Pulav 468 (698) 3.53 (5.27)
Laddoo 585 (732) 2.73 (3.41)
Paratha 422 (896) 5.54 (11.76)
Figure in parenthesis represent content on dry basis
Mean of duplicate analysis
Table 2 : Socio-economic characteristics of subjects’ families
Group-wise distribution of subjects
QPM N.M. Milk Control Parameters Range
N % N % N % N %
Income per month (Rs.) 500-1000 6 30 5 25 0 0 4 20
1001-1500 0 0 8 40 2 10 0 0
1501-2000 6 30 2 10 9 45 4 20
2001-2500 6 30 3 15 2 1 8 40
2501-3000 2 10 2 10 7 35 4 20
Mean 1700 1475 2100 1950
S.D. 687 642 527 678
No. of family members 2-5 5 25 6 30 3 15 4 20
6-8 13 65 14 70 15 75 16 80
9-11 2 10 0 0 2 10 0 0
Mean 7 6 7 6
S.D. 1.716 1.374 1.491 1.2
Family expenditure on food P.M. (Rs.) 500-1000 6 30 5 25 0 0 4 20
1001-1500 1 5 10 50 7 35 0 0
1501-2000 7 35 4 20 7 35 13 65
2001-2500 6 30 1 5 6 30 3 15
Mean 1575 1275 1725 1625
S.D. 586 402 402 471
EFFECT OF FEEDING QUALITY PROTEIN MAIZE (QPM) ON CHILDREN’S GROWTH
HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Food Sci. Res. J.; Vol. 2 (2); (Oct., 2011) 176
between 376 to 585 in the former and 402 to 510 in the
latter. The higher nutritive value, protein in particular,
of the QPM can be seen to have reflected as higher /
better anthropometric measurements of the subjects
(Table 4).
General profile of subjects:
According to the data (Table 2) obtained by
interviewing the mothers, the study subjects were in the
age group of 12 to 30 months. Females formed 48.8 per
cent and males 51.2 per cent. Monthly income of the
families to which the subjects belonged, ranged between
Rs. 500/- and 3000/- whereas the mean of family income
of the four groups viz., QPM, conventional maize, milk
and control ranged between Rs. 1475 to 2100. The
mean family size (when rounded off) came to be 6 to 7.
Majority of the families had only one earning member and
Table 3: Protein and energy intakes of different groups before and during feeding experiment
Stages Group-wise protein intakes (g)
QPM NM Milk Control
Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D. Mean S.D.
Protein:
Initial 23.51 1.02 23.83 1.89 20.47 1.03 23.82 0.53
2 months 24.87 1.33 25.34 1.16 25.68 0.87 24.22 0.82
4 months 24.67 1.11 25.54 1.12 25.75 0.94 24.44 1.05
6 months 25.05 1.07 25.68 1.11 25.90 0.82 24.66 1.17
Energy:
Group-wise energy (Kcl) intakes
Initial 953 29.46 980 27.41 985 68.89 966 22.63
2 months 1263 2166 1248 5.58 1247 9.12 1243 4.11
4 months 1260.7 19.13 1248 6.11 1248 7.69 1244 4.56
6 months 1256 14.61 1250 5.68 1249 7.29 1245 5.77
the expenditure on food, per month, showed a mean of
about Rs. 1275 to 1725 in the four groups. One can very
well understand that this low amount of money which is
available for food in a large family can not take care of
the recommended dietary intakes of small children; hence,
the children’s nutritional status is of great concern today.
QPM can be of great benefit to solve the problem, without
affecting the total food expenditure of the family. Table
2 summarizes the findings about the socio-economic
factors studied.
Protein and energy intakes before and during
feeding experiment:
Table 3 depicts the quantity of protein and energy
consumed by the experimental and control groups just
before starting the experiment and during the feeding
experiment at 2 months intervals. Since, it was planned to
Table 4: Mean initial, final and difference of anthropometric measurements and control groups
Group-wise measurement Parameters
Stages QPM NM Milk Control
Weight (Kg) Initial 8 8.53 8.47 7.73
Final 11.32 10.19 10.97 9.3
Difference 3.32 1.66 2.50 1.57
Height Initial 77.77 80 76.19 79.07
Final 84.44 83.58 82.64 82.97
Difference 6.67 3.58 6.45 3.9
Head circumference (cm) Initial 44.73 44.83 42.11 44.44
Final 48.64 47.17 44.81 46.59
Difference 3.91 2.34 2.70 2.15
Chest circumference (cm) Initial 46.37 43.75 45.45 48.71
Final 49.51 45.38 47.60 49.58
Difference 3.14 1.63 2.15 0.87
Arm circumference (cm) Initial 14.11 13.16 14.29 13.64
Final 15.77 14.22 15.68 14.70
Difference 1.66 1.06 1.39 1.06
NEETA CHOPRA, AMITA BHARGAWA AND ANNAMMA KUMAR
177HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Food Sci. Res. J.; Vol. 2 (2); (Oct., 2011)
keep all the groups on isocaloric and isoprotein intakes, it
can be seen that the quantities listed under consumed
quantities were almost similar. It was the effect of quality
of the diet and this study aimed to find out, and not the
quality. Prior to the starting of the experiment, the children
in the four groups were consuming about 21 to 24 g
protein and 950 to 980 kcal. which gradually increased
to about 25 g and 1250 kcal, respectively during the period
of experimental feeding. These values do not represent
all what was served, but are the actual intakes from
consumed diets. i.e. after deducting the left over in the
plates; hence there was some variation in the intakes .The
consumed quantities met the ICMR(2001) recommended
dietary allowances(RDA) of 22g protein and 1240 kcal
energy, although the quality varied in the four feeding
groups.
Anthropometric status:
It is very well established that anthropometric
measurements are reflections of nutritional intakes,
particularly protein and energy. In the young children body
weight, height, chest circumference, arm circumference
and head circumference are important measurements.
Further, it is also well recognized that both quality and
quantity of protein exert influence.
Table 4 has the average data of the study–subjects,
pertaining to these measurements prior to the feeding
experiment and at the completion of the experiment after
6-month feeding. The fortnightly gains in each feeding
group are depicted in Fig. 2 to 6. It can be noticed that
the QPM group performed best in all anthropometric
parameters, exceeding even the milk -fed group. On the
whole the control group measurements were far lower.
Thus, it can be stated that QPM can promote good
growth in young children, due to its very superior quality
of protein.
Fig. 4: Comparative gains in chest circumference
EFFECT OF FEEDING QUALITY PROTEIN MAIZE (QPM) ON CHILDREN’S GROWTH
Fig. 2: Comparative gains in weight
Fig. 3: Comparative gains in arm circumference
Fig. 5: Comparative gains in head circumference
Fig. 6: Comparative gains in height
HIND INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Food Sci. Res. J.; Vol. 2 (2); (Oct., 2011) 178
Conclusion:
Inclusion of QPM as a substitute of conventional
maize in the diets of young children ,particularly in the low
socioeconomic groups, can be highly beneficial in
combating PEM, thus meeting the growth standards.
Address for correspondence :
NEETA CHOPRA
Department of Foods and Nutrition,
Institute of Home Economics, AGRA (U.P.) INDIA
E-mail: [email protected]
Authors’ affiliations :
AMITA BHARGAWA
Department of Home Science,
V.M.L.G.P.G. College, GHAZIABAD (U.P.) INDIA
E-mail: [email protected]
ANNAMMA KUMAR
Department of Foods and Nutrition,
Halima School of Home Science,
SAM Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture Technology and Science,
ALLAHABAD (U.P.) INDIA
E-mail: [email protected]
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